Chocolate Sour Cream Cake
The secret ingredient to this incredibly rich and moist chocolate cake is sour cream!
I’m not quite sure how this chocolate sour cream cake got made. My Mom had asked if I’d be willing to make a birthday cake for my sister for us all to enjoy while my family was in town last week. I gladly agreed, though I wasn’t sure how I’d manage it with my darling, but demanding, two month old.
The secret to my success probably lies in the fact that this is actually a simple layer cake to make. Neither the cake or the icing require a stand mixer and both are a cinch to put together. Intrigued? You should be.
This is my new favorite chocolate cake recipe. It’s got all the great qualities of a boxed cake mix, but without all of the chemicals and processing. It’s light, moist, and very tender. Most importantly, it’s deeply chocolaty. And every girl deserves an ultra chocolate cake for her birthday.
Would you believe that there is no butter in this icing? Made mostly of melted chocolate and sour cream, it is the silkiest icing I’ve ever used. It glides onto the cake like a dream, I had the whole thing frosted in a matter of minutes. And look how pretty it is! If layer cakes intimidate you, you need to make this cake. You’ll be so glad you did.
Chocolate sour cream cake with chocolate sour cream icing. Bakers of all levels can bake it. And chocolate lovers will absolutely love it.
Chocolate Sour Cream Cake
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 1 ¼ cup hot coffee (295 ml)
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (110 grams)
- 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour (330 grams)
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt (5 grams)
- 2 ½ teaspoon baking soda (11 grams)
- 2 cups granulated sugar (400 grams)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups sour cream (282 grams)
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (267 ml)
For the icing:
- 15 ounces semi-sweet chocolate , chopped (425 grams)
- 1 ¼ teaspoon instant espresso , optional
- 2 cups sour cream , at room temperature (450 grams)
- ¼-½ cup light corn syrup (59-118 ml)
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- To make the cake, preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 8-inch or 9-inch cake pans and line bottoms with parchment paper.
- In a bowl, whisk together the coffee and cocoa powder until no lumps remain. Set aside. In another bowl, sift together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
- In a large bowl, beat the sugar and eggs together until smooth and pale yellow in color. Stir in the sour cream, followed by the vegetable oil. Add the flour mixture all at once and stir until combined. Stir in the cocoa mixture and mix until smooth.
- Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cake pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25-35 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, melt the chocolate and instant espresso (if using) in a bowl placed over a pan of simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool for about 10 minutes. In another bowl, combine the sour cream, vanilla extract, and corn syrup. Add the chocolate mixture and stir until smooth. Taste for flavor and add additional corn syrup a tablespoon at a time to reach the desired sweetness. ¼ cup was just the right amount for me. The icing will have a thin consistency. Refrigerating it for about 10-15 minutes will help it firm up a bit.
- To frost the cake, place one cake layer on a cake stand or plate and cover the top with about ⅔ cup of the icing. Place the other cake layer on top and frost the entire cake. Store the cake in the fridge until ready to serve, along with any leftovers.
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?
I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment below, send me an email, or take a photo and tag it on instagram with #completelydelicious.
Looks absolutely delicious! I would so love to try some. I reckon I would polish the lot off in 5 minutes flat!
Your cake looks great, I’m planning on making it tomorrow for my husbands birthday. I’m from Australia, we don’t use corn syrup here, what could I use instead. We have Golden Syrup which has the consistency of honey, but made from sugar cane, do you think that will do.
Incredible cake, simply makes me drool..
Looks very glossy and smooth. ‘Pweety ‘pweety I say. Thanks for posting
You forgot to mention how beautiful this cake is. Your sister is one lucky gal, it’s stunning, Annalise. I love a good chocolate cake and this looks like it would be the perfect accompaniment to a cold glass of milk and a good gossip magazine!
Oh man, this post is reminding me that I haven’t had chocolate cake in ages!
I’m always on the lookout for a good chocolate cake recipe – I have to try this one. It sure looks gorgeous!
I made this cake yesterday and took it into work for a friend’s birthday. It is ridiculous how delicious this cake is! It is by far the best cake I have ever made… and I make a lot of cake. {I love cake}. It is heavenly and chocolately… are those the same thing? Plus it is super easy to make and I already had all the ingredients.
Thank you for this recipe! I am making a small cake for my wedding to cut at the reception (we are having a cupcake tower for the main event). I will be using your recipe!
Thanks so much for coming back to tell me how much you like this cake. You made my day!
I absolutely loveee this cake, but my mum hates chocolate. Any way to swap the cocoa power and coffee out of this to make it more of a vanilla cake?
Thanks heaps xx
If you’re looking for something other than chocolate, I’ve got a lot in my archives! Just search the recipe index.
wow so fabulous! Can’t wait to see you next week!
I haven’t made this yet but I want to. Can you taste the coffee in it? Bad as I hate to say it the taste of coffee just turning my tummy and makes me sick as a dog. What could be substituted for the coffee?
You absolutely can’t taste the coffee, it just helps to bring out the chocolate flavor. I hope you’ll try it with the coffee, but water could be substituted.
Can u tell me how much of the ingredients in the frosting and the cake?
I want to make it as quick as possible…
Wait… Never mind….. Thanks soooo much!!! Ur awesome!
I made this cake and it’s simply wonderful. I also made a modified version for a Super Bowl party, using a 13 x 9 pan with a cream cheese frosting. Everyone raved about it…very moist and delicious.
“Chocolate Sour Cream Cake | Completely Delicious” was
in fact a good post and I personally was in fact very
content to discover it. Thanks for the post,Jenifer
Did you double your recipe with your cake coz mine was way too thin compared to yours. Thanks.
This cake was delicious! Moist, fluffy, and chocolaty. I’ve never made a cake from scratch, and it was surprisingly easy. I made it with the peanut butter cream frosting, and it was enjoyed by all!
Yay! So glad you enjoyed it!
Very delicios cake! We are just enjoying it for my birthday 🙂
Do you think baking powder can be used in place of the baking soda I did not dare to try…
Usually frosting that is NOT cream cheese based is just glops of sugary Crisco, and is utterly oily disgusting. I always wipe it off. How does the sour cream frosting compare to cream cheese frosting?
Well, it’s definitely not cream cheese buttercream and isn’t at all like your typical buttercream since there’s not sugar in the recipe. It’s super chocolaty and the sour cream gives it a smooth texture and tangy flavor. I absolutely love it. Give it a try!
I’m not usually a chocolate cake fan, but since finding this recipe almost 2 months ago, I’ve made this cake 6 times…everyone just loves it!!
Love the softness of the cake ! But I wish it could be more chocolatey
Thank you very much for Sharing the recipe
Your cake and the photo are all wonderful! Beautifully presented.
I’m going to make this cake as cupcakes. I like the addition of the coffee but I will definitely be cutting back on the sugar. I don’t like oversweet desserts of any kind, including cakes. Other than that, sounds yummy! ;<)
Has anyone made this in a bundt pan as a pound cake? I am curious as to how that would turn out.
Yes! This recipe is originally a bundt cake recipe, and I just adapted it to be a layer cake. It is fabulous either way! To make as a bundt, follow recipe exactly and bake in 1 bundt pan instead of 2 cake pans. Drizzle the icing on top. Enjoy!
Baked this yesterday and have eaten 3 pieces already !!
Absolutely my new chocolate cake recipe for all occasions…so chocolaty with the coffee making it the richest most delicious cake I have ever made. Thank You for sharing this one, didn’t try the frosting yet but will next time…hubby wanted a vanilla frosting this time.
What should be the percentage of fat of sour cream?
I always use full-fat dairy products in my baking for optimal flavor. You may be able to use low-fat and be okay, but since I’ve never tried it I couldn’t say for sure.
…dry, and the icing became a war between the semi-sweet chocolate, and the sour cream…thanks for posting the recipe though….good thing we all have our own taste…..wont make it again….
Definitely NOT dry.
This is the first cake I’ve ever made from scratch.
It was a little bitter/not sweet…I may have added extra cocoa powder because I’m a chocolate junkie.
The texture and moisture were perfect.I did have to cook longer thanrecommended by about 7 minutes.
Thanks so much!
I made this cake today and there was too much batter for 8 inch pans.
We are a gluten and egg free household, so I tried Tom Sawyer’s gluten free flour in place of regular flour and ener-g egg replacer instead of the eggs. Also used coconut oil in place of veg oil and it turned out terrific. I also added chopped walnuts. So yummy! Makes great cupcakes too. 1/2 the recipe will make about 12-14 cupcakes. Thanks!!
Cake and frosting were delicious! Very rich, chocolate cake with velvety, smooth chocolate frosting. My new favorite chocolate cake. I’m going to try to adapt recipe to make a vanilla cake (hold the chocolate…) Thanks! I appreciate you sharing!
So happy to hear you enjoyed the cake. Thanks, Melissa!
I’ve made this cake 10 times, and while I’ve always overdone the cocoa powder I learned to add more sugar.It’s prefect every time.tonight I baked cupcakes for all my September birthday students. They’ll love em.
Hi, this recipe looks fantastic and I can’t wait to try it. I was just wondering…the “velvety, silky smooth” frosting sounds glorious, but is it stiff enough to pipe? If I was to use it on cupcakes for example, or wanted to pipe a more elaborate border with it? Thanks for your help!
Hi Jennifer! The frosting actually needs to be firmed up in the fridge before it can be used at all. So just chill it as long as necessary to get the consistency you’d like. If you go with cupcakes, I would store them in the fridge until you’re ready to serve, particularly if your home/kitchen is warm. But in general I have never had an issue with piping this frosting. It holds up beautifully!
Made this cake for my daughter’s 21st birthday party. Everyone raved about it. Tonight I am making it for my son’s birthday. 🙂
Is there any substitute for cornsyrup or do you mind sharing the reciepe of corn syrup? Thank you
Can u use cake flour for this recipe? I have made your southern coconut cake and it was great!!
Yes, you should be able to use cake flour with similar results.
This is my absolutely favourite chocolate cake recipe now…. I find it hard to even contemplate using anything else. I have used it for kid’s cakes, cupcakes (especially delicious with salted caramel buttercream) and wedding cakes…..
Although not surprised given every one of your recipes I have tried from the site has been completely delicious!
This was my first cake from scratch! I made it for my son’s 3rd birthday party today, and it turned out SO GOOD!!! Lots of compliments! Thank you!!!
Yay! I’m so happy to hear this cake turned out so well for you. It’s one of my favorites!
Hi,
Could you please let me know which cake tastes better in your opinion. This or the chocolate coffee cake?
Many thanks,
Jay
Hi Jay! It’s all a matter of personal preference. The cake layers themselves are pretty much the same, so it comes down to whether you want a coffee flavored frosting or a chocolate frosting. I love both!
Question: the cake recipe calls for hot coffee…what if I just use hot water? would that be alright? I don’t know how to make coffee…I’m not a coffee drinker…
Yes, that will be fine. The coffee is there to enhance the flavor of the chocolate, not give the cake a coffee flavor. You could always pick up a cup of black coffee from your local coffee shop. However, you can also just choose to leave it out.
This is a wonderful chocolate cake recipe. I have been trying to find a good chocolate cake recipe but every time it turned out too dry.
Thank you for sharing!
Hi Jennifer! I’m so happy to hear you like this cake recipe. It’s my favorite chocolate cake for that very reason! 🙂
Hi there, how long does this cake last? If I wantedo make and ice for a wedding?
Thank you for an awesome recipe!! The cake is amazing! It is the first time I have made a chocolate cake that was so moist!!
Will definitely be making this again!
Hi! I’ve been looking for a frosting recipe without butter and am so glad I found yours! Sour cream isn’t easily available in my place, so is it possible to use plain, unsweetened yoghurt instead? Also I do not have corn syrup, what can I best substitute it with? Thanks!
Hi Banana man, I’m not Annelise but I’ve baked with sour cream and yogurt before and would say that yogurt is thinner than sour cream usually is. Can you find strained, Greek-style yogurt to use? I’ve used Greek-style yogurt successfully in other recipes before.
Loved the cake. Fluffy and moist. Probably will try with a different frosting . This frosting was good, did frost easily and looked fantastic but prefer a lighter ( not as dense) frosting.
I don’t often return to baking recipes I’ve found online. I usually like to try different things. This cake is a different story! I make it at least once a year for either my mum or my boyfriend’s birthday, sometimes both. If anyone ever asks me for a classic, rich chocolate cake, this is the one to make. I’ve heard from multiple people that it’s the best they’ve ever had. So I have to give you credit for this recipe because I’ve been making it for years and I just love it. Thank you!
This is a beautiful cake. Moist and flavoursome and comes together easily. I have also made it into cupcakes which works well and makes 25-30 depending on size of papers.